and wide turns. Belk Track has played host to many regional, national, and international events, such as International Friendship & Freedom Games, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships – East Regional, the New Balance Outdoor Nationals (formerly the Nike Outdoor Nationals), and the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships. † The 1996 MEAC championship was Shared with The University of Maryland–Eastern Shore. Volleyball The North Carolina A&T volleyball team is coached by Hal Clifton. Clifton is the ninth head coach in the program's history, and he replaced former coach Toni Conway, who took over the program in 2009. Prior to joining NC A&T, Clifton held previous assistant coaching positions at NCAA Division II St. Andrews Presbyterian College, as well as six seasons at Division I Elon University. Clifton played an integral part in turning the Phoenix program from a 9–23 team, in the 2005 season, into a squad that finished in first place in the Southern Conference North Division in 2010 with a 21–14 overall record and an 11–5 mark in the league. The Lady Aggies volleyball program currently hosts all home contests inside Moore Gymnasium. Former sports Swimming NC A&T sponsored Women's swimming as a varsity sport from 1998–2016 where they competed in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA), an NCAA Division I conference that started in 2007 as the single-sport Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association and adopted its current name when it added women's beach volleyball in 2015. The team was led by coach Shawn Hendrix, who ran the program from its first season. Facilities ‡ Denotes off-campus facility Traditions The Legend of the Aggie Bulldog Aggie, sometimes referred to as the "Aggie Dawg" or "Aggie Dog", is the official mascot of A&T's athletic teams. Aggie and his female counterpart, Aggietha can be seen at football, men's and women's basketball games, and other university events. Although the physical representation of the athletic teams is a bulldog, the term "Aggie" has a historical connection to the university's agricultural roots as a land-grant university. According to Albert W. Spruill, the origin of the school's Bulldog mascot stems from a tale of a shepherd dog, that was kept on the A&T farm to assist in herding the animals to shelter. During a football game the Aggies had become despondent and in the game's last few minutes, an A&T fullback